Tourism-related Hiring Boosts Regional Outlook

Jobless Rate Falls

Employment Rise Weaker Than Hoped

June 03, 1993|By DAVID RESS Daily Press

The job market for new graduates and kids seeking work this summer should be a bit better than last year, but it's still a long way from the go-go days of the 1980s, Virginia Employment Commission economist William Mezger said Wednesday.

Mezger said the rise in employment in Virginia and in Hampton Roads between March and April was weaker than he had forecast.

But it was enough to cut the area's unemployment rate to 5.3 percent from 5.6 percent, and the state rate to 4.8 percent from 5.2 percent. The state rate is the lowest since November 1990, when the recession started to bite.

In Hampton Roads, most hiring was tied to tourism, as hotel employment jumped 9.4 percent to 11,600 and restaurant and bar employment rose 4.7 percent to 40,300. Hiring by local theme parks was also strong, while construction employment rose 1.3 percent to 31,400 jobs, Mezger said. Construction employment is up 3.6 percent from last year's level.

Those are the kinds of jobs that account for much of the summer work students do. But the traditional big hirers of graduates - manufacturers, banks and utilities - still are actively cutting the size of their staffs, Mezger said.

That's one reason why the 22,000-job statewide gain in employment from March to April was less than he had expected, Mezger said. He said he had been looking for about a 30,000-job increase as companies boosted hiring after the big blizzard in March temporarily closed some operations.

He said manufacturing, construction and transportation employment should have bounced back faster from the blizzard.

While tourism-linked hiring should boost the summer job market from last year's levels, last year was the worst summer job market in a decade, Mezger said.

The still fairly weak demand for new workers in factories, construction sites and offices will keep the summer hiring this year below levels seen in the 1980s, he said.